by J. R. Sharp
“I see a lot of smoke but that is all,” replied Catherina. Then Catherina got down from the bunk. “I see planes coming this way, we need to take cover under the bunks.” The sound of descending bombs made the screaming noise that Catherina had learned to hate and fear. The ground started to shake as the bombs roared into the ground exploded as they hit. Then the whole compound started to shake as the bombs got closer. One hit just outside the way station, exploding a section of the compound wall. The walls of the bunk room started to crumble around Catherina and Julia. The front door area facing the courtyard was hit. Most of the other prisoners were either in that area or the basement when the bombs hit.
Pietro could see the planes dropping bombs on the town and felt helpless. He knew, based on what Gino had reported that Catherina was still likely there. If he left the farm, then the whole family was in jeopardy of being harmed. So, he had to wait and hope. His place was at the farm with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was bound to ensure their safety was his priority.
The bombing lasted for only for a few minutes, but the devastation was immense.
“Are you alright?” asked Catherina to Julia who was kneeling next to her.
“Yes, I am fine. The bunks saved us,” replied Julia.
“Let’s get out of here before they start bombing again,” replied Catherina.
Catherina and Julia dug their way out from under the bunk after they felt that the bombing had stopped. All they could hear was screaming coming from what was left of the front door area and basement. As they made their way towards the other prisoners to help them, Catherina could see that the way station was in ruins. Francisco’s office was totally gone and so were most of the walls that kept them in this horrible place. As they began working to remove the rocks and debris, Catherina noticed that there were already other people from the town helping out. She had not seen this many people out and about in more than six months.
As nightfall got closer, the Ally soldiers entered the city but they didn’t stop to help. They were on their way to Germany to end this war. One by one the women prisoners were removed from the debris. Most survived with only minor injuries, but a few didn’t make it through the bombing. Catherina learned days later that the Allies were convinced that this was a barracks for the German and Fascist soldiers. Catherina and Julia helped throughout the next morning, but then they had to get back home.
***
Pietro was up early the next morning looking out of the kitchen window and could still see the smoke coming from town. He was getting worried and decided that he was going to town today. The Ally soldiers and tanks had already gone by yesterday and bombings had stopped, so he would have to take a chance today. Just as he was finishing his coffee, he felt a tug on his pants. He looked down and it was Maria. “Nono, can I go outside and play?” asked his oldest granddaughter.
Pietro kneeled down to look at his granddaughter and said, “Yes, you can, but you must stay in the driveway and don’t go past the end. If you see anybody coming down the road you need to come back inside the house and tell me.” Before he could finish talking to Maria she was already heading out the door excited that she was able to go outside without anyone supervising. Pietro could see her go down to the end of the driveway towards the rock pile. She always enjoyed climbing on it and throwing rocks into the field.
Maria was busy gathering her pile of rocks and didn’t notice the person running towards her from the fields. As she started to throw her first rock, she looked up towards the fields and noticed someone coming towards her with their arms opened. Maria dropped her rock and started to run back towards the house.
“Nono, someone is running and yelling at me!” Pietro looked very concerned at first and started to wave at Maria to run towards his direction. Maria jumped into her Nono’s arms and at the same time he picked her up. Pietro looked at the figure running toward the house. He gave his granddaughter a tight hug and smiled.
“No need to be afraid, little one,” he said. “That’s your momma . . . Anna you need to come outside, Catherina is home!”
Maria turned her head to see her mother running down the driveway yelling, “Maria, it is me, your mother!”
Chapter 25
ALLIES TAKE OVER
IT HAD BEEN A week since Catherina had escaped and the Allies marched through the region. The bombings and shootings had stopped since Catherina returned home. Pietro had made a trip back to town after a couple of days and came back with the latest news that the war was almost over and Mussolini was on the run. The Allies had run off the Fascist supporters. For the first time in over seven years the area was not under their control.
It was Saturday and Catherina wanted to go to town. She wanted to see how everyone was doing that was hurt during the bombing. Besides, she needed to do some shopping. As she made her way to the barn to get her bike, Maria was right behind.
“Mom, can I come with you, please?” asked Maria. Maria hadn’t been to town in over a year. Catherina felt somewhat guilty that she was gone for so long.
She replied. “Yes, you can come with me. Let me get you on the handle bars after we get on the main road.” Maria started to scream that she was going to town with her mother. It was a very nice day so heavy jackets were not going to be needed. Besides, Catherina wasn’t going to stay in town too long. Catherina let Anna know that Maria was going with her as she made her way to the main road with her oldest daughter next to her and the bike.
As Catherina made her way towards town, she could see that there were lots of people coming and going to town. She had not seen this in a very long time, but she noticed that some of the people leaving town had somewhat of a disturbed look on their faces. Catherina made the last turn towards the market place and stopped her bike as she noticed what was causing the looks on their face. She could see three separate ropes hanging down from the train overpass. At the end of the ropes were three men that were hanging from their necks. To the right of the hung men were a group of women that had their hands tied together and were being marched through town by one common rope. Each of the women had their heads saved and wore prisoner’s uniforms, the same type that Catherina wore while detained at the way station. Most of the people in town were throwing rocks or food at the women. Catherina noticed that the first one being paraded through town was Betty. The rest were German or Fascist supporters, many of whom had been openly abusive to the locals during the last years of the war. Catherina looked back towards the men hanging from the overpass and noticed the middle one was wearing very shiny boots, which she had seen so many times over the years.
Maria was startled and looked at her mom and asked, “Mom, can we go home?” Catherina turned her bike around and headed out of town knowing that justice had been served.
***
The farm only had a few chickens and one cow at the end of the war but would soon become a very productive farm as it was before the war. Chester and Bruno would make their way back home from Germany, but unfortunately Bruno’s health was falling at a rapid rate when he finally made it home. He would not last the year before he passed away from the tortures of war and Tuberculosis.
As for Gino, he finally made it home months after the war had ended. He tried many times to rescue Catherina from the way station but feared for her safety and the others. Their unit did not have the proper armament to rescue the people held in the way station, which was heavily guarded. His unit left the Cimpello region to fight the retreating Germans just days before the bombing of the way station. He did not find out what happened to Catherina until he returned from fighting the enemy. During the latter part of the war, he wanted to return to the farm and be with his family but feared for their safety, so he stayed away. The families that were caught hiding deserters were imprisoned or put to death. What he witnessed during the war haunted him for the rest of his life and he would never recover from his nightmares. At the end of the war, only his mother survived.
Epilogue
A
S A YOUNG BOY and throughout my teenage years, my family would spend countless days visiting and living with all my family members in Cimpello and Prodenone. Gino and Catherina were the perfect grandparents that always showered us with small gifts and spent all of their time with us when we were visiting or when they came to stay with our family. They never spoke of the war when it was just our immediate family, but when the extended families would meet at the Zucchet farm it was a different story. It was when the wine and food appeared that the old stories became new again. The Germans and Mussolini were always the major topic with Catherina, Chester, Valeria, and Valasco. I can never remember my grandfather talking about the war when family was around, but he would always seem to withdraw from the conversation when anyone would bring the war up. He would, however, drink wine until it was gone or he had to go to bed. My grandfather would spend a lot of time with me in the basement of his modest apartment that he shared with my grandmother, Catherina. It was there that he would talk to me about life and care for the birds that he had caged as pets, always feeding them and talking to them as if they were family members. He would occasionally fall silent and sit with his wine staring out of the lone window catching the memories of his past. Sometimes he did drift to the war years and briefly mention his times, but only in humor, and he would only briefly talk about the horrors of the war.
There are moments of my childhood and teenage years that stand out when we spent time with my grandfather. One would be that he would always take my brother and me to the local watering holes to show off his grandsons. He would always sit at the bar while we would be in the game room next to the bar. What he didn’t know was that I would listen for hours about his war experience that he would share with his war friends. It was only years later while I was in the navy that I understood why he would let go with his war friends and not his immediate family. The one memory that made the biggest impact on me was what happened one day at the beach in Italy. My grandfather took the whole family to the beach on the perfect beach day. Then, as I sat next to my grandfather having lunch, he suddenly got very angry and left the beach to sit in the car. This puzzled me so I went to talk with him and found out that some German tourist had sat next to us on the beach. Gino would always carry a hatred for the Germans well into his sixties.
Years later, when my father was stationed in Germany, Gino would come, and in the beginning he would avoid all contact with Germans. He would even stay in the house when we would venture out to local towns for a meal. Although, during his last visit with us in Germany, he did join us for an outing and seemed to have made peace with the enemy that gave him so much pain during his lifetime.
I visited my grandmother several times during my 20s, but by then my grandfather had passed away. Even though my Italian wasn’t as good as it was when I was younger, we still could communicate and have a great time. We would visit the farm and Chester, Valerie, and Valsco would join us with all of their families. What a great time we would have, and I still think there was no other place where the food and wine tasted so good. During my many visits, she would get on her bike and ride twelve miles a day to visit my grandfather and lay flowers on his grave. It was the most moving thing I have ever seen. She did this well into her eighties.
Maria and Loretta left for America in their late teens and have been married to my father and uncle for over fifty years. It is a wonder to see my mother and aunt together, going back and forth as they use Italian and English with an ease that most Americans can only watch in disbelief. As their children grew up and started their own lives, they seemed to grow closer and would often talk about their time on the farm during those hard times. While I was writing this book and interviewing them, I could see their eyes and facial expressions shift into a distant trance as they spoke of their time on the farm. My heart would always sink a little as they remembered those years and their eyes would water. I could not help but to see their pain. It was the hardest of times, but through the love of family and the courage of the Zucchet and Cartelli families they survived the brutality of many. Today the farm is only a mirror of what it was back during the war. All of my family members that endured such hardship during the war have all but passed away, but their legacy will live for generations to come.
If you enjoyed this book, look for the continuation book that follows Gino Cartelli and his exploits as the Italian freedom fighter.
Bruno Zucchet, before the war.
Gino Cartelli in 1939.
Catherine Zucchet.
Loretta Cartelli in front of the main house. Notice the water pump to her left and one of the hidden pots on her right that they unearthed after the war.
Maria and Loretta as teenagers.
Maria Cartelli in the planting fields in front of the farm 1945.
Pietro Zucchet in his barn with the cow in the background. Picture taken 1945.
Pietro Zucchet’s World War I picture.
Zucchet family 1928.
Picture taken the day after the war was over.